Eating Habits
by blurd-vision
Summary: Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen’s disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents’ odd diet result in his death?
1. The Patient

_**Summary:**_ Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen's disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents' odd diet result in _his_ death?

A/N: I don't remember what possessed me to write this but, bear with me if you think it a wee bit odd.

- - - - -  
**I  
****The Patient  
****- - - - -**

"Jordan over here! Over here Jord! I'm open!" yelled one of the players on Jordan's soccer team. Jordan looked at his teammate and to the net. The net was pretty far away but he knew he could make the shot. Jordan debated it for another few seconds. His team was in the lead but only by one point. Then again though, this guy rarely got to take a shot on net.

Seeing a guy from the other team, Cole, coming at him with full force, Jordan quickly kicked the ball. "Murphy!" He yelled as the ball sped towards his teammate and he collided with the ground. Cole was double his size and his weight too. When Jordan fell, Cole fell on him crushing Jordan under his weight.

Cole jumped up as soon as he fell and dropped to his knees. The whistle blew and suddenly everything happened in slow motion. All of Jordan's teammates ran over to him, concerned for the team's MVP. Jordan was still conscious but in pain. He looked around him.

"Jordan, are you okay?" His coach asked him, helping him to sit up and then to his feet.

"Uh… I guess so." He said blankly before stumbling back into his friends. "I don't feel good." He moaned before vomiting and collapsing to the ground.

"JORDAN!" Several people cried in unison and his mother, Heidi dropped down beside him.

Heidi shook her son. "Jordan, Jordan, wake up. Please Jord wake up." She begged. "Someone call an ambulance!" She ordered and the coach pulled out his mobile and dialed 911.

- - - - -

"Sick? Like nauseas and vomiting sick?" House asked eyeing Cuddy who nodded her head. "That's boring. He's got the flu. Next."

"Come on House please."

House gave Cuddy an odd glance with a cocked smile. "Why do you care so much? You know the kid?" Cuddy looked away silently. "What did you do to this one? Did he fall off your roof too?"

Sighing, she pushed the file towards House. "Just take it."

"Not before you tell me why I should."

"His family and him live next door to me. I always hear… noises from their house. Odd noises."

"Maybe they're having sex."

Cuddy shook her head. "There's a lot of screaming and just horrifying sounds."

"Call the cops." House said and began to limp away.

"Stop!" She called to House who turned quickly tilting his head impatiently. "I have but they don't come. They never come. Please House, just this once. I want to know what's going on. If it's gonna be simple, then diagnose him and get him out of here."

House dropped his shoulders in surrender and took the case file. When at the door he turned with a grin on his lips. "You don't even care about the patient. You just want to satisfy your own curiosity." He said chuckling.

Chase, Cameron and Foreman looked up as House entered the office shaking a case file in front of them. They continued to stare at him without a word. They were all tired from having stayed late the night before.

"Look what I've got." He said in a tone one would use speaking to a dog. "It's a treat. Do you want a treat?"

Chase looked at him cocking an eyebrow. "Oh yes _please_."

"What is it?" Cameron asked as House tossed the file across the glass table before grabbing the pen and writing things on the board.

"A case, duh." He said. Cameron dropped her shoulders and opened the file and read the boy's name. _Damian Jordan Cook_. "Like the demon possessed kid." House commented. "He goes by Jordan though. So what do we know?"

Cameron read over the file. "He seems okay. Active. Says here that he has breathing problems but doesn't use an inhaler or anything. He has traces of acid in his blood and is known to have rashes around his mouth."

"Acid, like drug use acid."

"It doesn't say. Tox screen was negative except for a small unidentifiable trace of acid. It was consumed too long ago to know what it is. It says that he came in after collapsing at a soccer game after vomiting."

Chase rolled his eyes. "He probably just got heat exhaustion or something like that. The kid was playing soccer, it's hot out. Dehydration. Why did you take this case?"

"Cuddy's blackmailing me. She knows about last night." He said to Cameron who grimaced at him. "Fine… She's "concerned" about the kid." House paraphrased their earlier conversation. "So what else could it be?"

The doctors exchanged glances before shooting out ideas. First simple ideas and then getting more into it. "Okay, go run some tests. Chase go talk to the family. Find out what you can."

- - - - -

The family was reluctant to give much information. They seemed to be highly secretive so Chase asked to see Jordan alone. Heidi and Jordan's father, Mark discussed leaving Jordan alone with the doctor. They nodded their heads and left the room.

"So Jordan, have you done any drugs lately?"

"That's kinda blunt." Jordan said with a laugh and a deep cough. Chase listened to Jordan's breathing. It was rough and crinkly. Suddenly Jordan started coughing again and this time blood came up. Momentarily, Chase and Jordan locked eyes before Jordan passed out on his bed.

"Jordan? Jordan, are you awake?" Chase asked. The patient's eyes were still open. They were brown and held a blank but piercing gaze. His eyes were glossed over and seemed to follow Chase wherever he moved. "Jordan can you hear me?" He asked with a tremble of fear.

Chase listened to Jordan's breathing and watched him a bit. Gently, he pushed Jordan's eyes shut and left the room listening to the steady beat of the heart monitor.

"Alright, alright," House said noting down what Chase had reported. Coughing blood. Breathing problems. "What is it my pretties? Ideas?"

"It could be an infection. We should probably check out his house for drugs or anything else weird." Cameron said shifting in her seat as Foreman came in the room.

"Everything's negative House. Negative for drugs. Nothing; he's clean." Foreman told all the answers to the tests. "But," House jumped at that word. "There's a dark spot on his left lung."

"Could be cancer." Chase suggested. House nodded before Foreman asked about Chase's findings. "Well the parents wouldn't tell me much. When I got to speak to the kid alone, I asked him if he's ever taken drugs and he started coughing up blood and then passed out."

"I don't think it's cancer, Chase." Foreman said, glancing at Chase. "That doesn't explain the rest of his symptoms."

"It could be more than one thing. One leads to another. Infection leads to sick." He paused looking to House and Cameron for support but received none.

"What kind of drugs could cause this?" House asked standing up and tossing his marker into the air. Cameron and Foreman named a few as Chase remained silent. "Chase what are you thinking?"

"Formaldehyde." Chase said blankly. It explained his symptoms but was highly unlikely. House shot Chase an odd look.

"Do you really think a fifteen year old boy has access to a stash of formaldehyde? What about stuff that he could use as cheap replacements for drugs?"

"If he smoked he could have some formaldehyde in his system." Chase suggested not wanting to leave his idea.

"The kid doesn't smoke." House said. "If he smoked enough to get that much into his system he would be in insane shock from lack of nicotine."

Ignoring Chase's argument, Foreman and Cameron brainstormed but the only problem was that there was no trace of drugs in Jordan's body. "Try some more drug tests." House instructed frustrated.

"House, we've already done those tests twice. We're not going to find anything. Even if he did do drugs we wouldn't know because it would be out of his system by now." Chase argued. House was very frustrated and irritated by Chase who was arguing more than usual. "Well then what would _you_ suggest almighty Rowan Chase."

"Do _not _call me that." Chase snapped aggressively. "I…" Chase sighed. "I don't know."

"That's what I thought." House said with a grin. "Chase, go check out the kid's house. Cameron, go get more information out of the family and the boy."

"They're being really secretive Cameron." Chase said, giving her a heads up.

House looked at him dreadfully annoyed. "Would you shut up and go do what you're told!" House yelled at Chase, grabbing him by the arm. "Go raid their house, get whatever is relevant. Go!" He said pushing Chase towards the door. "Foreman, go with him." House instructed calmly

Walking down the hall, Foreman saw the fume from Chase's stance. "What was that? He flipped pretty quickly on you. What's going on outside of here? Chase?"

Chase stopped abruptly and turned to Foreman. "He's just mad at me."

"Why? What's going on?" Foreman asked, Chase just shook it off as they were in the elevator. "Come on Chase. House doesn't randomly flip like that. What did he catch you doing?"

Chase sighed. "Not what, who?"

- - - - -  
- - - - -

Vision is perhaps our greatest strength, it makes us peer into the future and lends shape to the unknown

- Li Ka Shing


	2. What's In the Closet?

_**Summary:**_ Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen's disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents' odd diet result in _his_ death?

I do not own House, you know that.

- - - - -  
**II  
****The House  
****- - - - -**

"What? Really? Who was it?" Foreman asked excitedly.

Chase caught the anxious look Foreman held and laughed lightly. He was then silent for a moment. "You promise not to tell _anyone_?" Foreman agreed. "It was Stacy."

"What?! You're joking, you're lying."

"No, I'm not." Chase defended. Foreman laughed, continuing to tell him that he was lying.

"I swear I'm not lying."

"No. House would have beat you to a pulp, he would have killed you."

"He wants to. He's already hit me. I escaped before he could do worse."

Foreman was still in disbelief. "If he hit you how come you don't have a bruise?" Chase swept his hair away from over his left ear, revealing a dark bruise on his temple with a few stitches. Chase explained that when House caught them in her office, he flipped and bashed Chase's head into a picture on the wall and broke the glass. "When did that happen?"

"This morning." Chase answered. Foreman was speechless. When the elevator doors opened they saw Stacy there waiting. They awkwardly said hello and left the hospital. "I told you I wasn't lying." Chase insisted. The look that Stacy gave him didn't lie. It was an odd but almost appreciative look, a thanks-for-last-night-see-you-later look.

Foreman laughed in almost disbelief. "I'm surprise he hasn't shot you in the face or just killed you. You got off lucky, Chase. Wow, what made her do you?"

"What's so bad about me?" Chase asked defensively. Foreman shrugged. "I guess I was there at the wrong or right time. Depends how you look at it."

"Good?" Foreman asked referring to Stacy.

Chase nodded. "I can see why House loved her."

"But I still don't get why. I thought she was _happily_ married."

Chase shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't feel like asking questions. I didn't want to have to talk, you know. I didn't want to end up being _that _guy."

Foreman nodded. "Well, congratulations." He said high-fiving Chase. "Let's just hope he doesn't murder you."

As they drove up to the house they saw how broken down it was. The porch looked like it would cave in, some of the windows were cracked and others were missing completely. There was garbage on the lawn and the grass looked like it hadn't been cut in years. The dark red paint on the house was peeling and the few shutters that there were on the house, were half hanging off. There was a chain link fence that was rusted barely even attached to the metal poles. In the mud and gravel driveway in front of a house shaped pile of wood that they assumed was an ex-garage, there was a 70s Porsche. A once beautiful car, all rusted with a flat tire and missing the passenger door window.

Chase looked at the house and grimaced as he hopped out of Forman's car. "Home sweet home. How can they live here?" He asked as he picked at the lock.

After a few minutes Chase turned to Foreman. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the house. Can we leave please?"

Foreman laughed at Chase. "What? Is little Chase afraid of a haunted house?" He asked mockingly. They were only in the main room on their knees searching for clues as to why the kid was sick.

"I'm not scared. I just don't know what we'll find in here." He said. He was actually a little fearful of the house; it reminded him of a possessed house that he had known when he was a kid. There was an old woman or rather an old witch who practiced sorcery that lived in the house and as young teens, they would dare each other to go in and do whatever.

One time, the old woman caught Chase and she had attempted to place a curse on him. When he began to run away, she made the doors slam and lock shut. He could hardly remember what had happened because he had blacked out. All he knew was that it was horrifying and that he had been trapped in the house for some twenty minutes or so had said his friends. They stopped going to the house after that.

"Well if you don't know what we'll find, then that's an even better reason to stay here and look. You can't possibly think that there's absolutely nothing that we'll find in here. The house is too ratty and beat down. It's probably got tons of crap that's making him sick. Keep looking."

After finishing an analysis of the front room and the rest of the house, they went to the basement. The door to the basement was off of the kitchen. Chase was first to go down the wooden staircase. The stairs shook and creaked as he went down. He held tightly to the side railing so that if the stairs fell down he wouldn't fall with them.

Foreman looked down the stairs from the doorway and watched Chase. "You okay?" He asked. "The stairs sound like they're gonna collapse under you. You put on some weight Chase?" Foreman laughed at him.

"It feels like they're going to fall out from under me." He said and thankfully placed a foot on the concrete floor. "It's freezing down here!" He yelled and pulled the string of a light. "Foreman, get down here! It's so—"

Hearing Chase's words cut off by a loud clunk and a sharp cry, he hurried down the stairs. "Chase, are you okay?" He asked and stretched out his hand to help Chase to his feet. "You might wanna watch out, the ground seems pretty slippery down here." Said Foreman.

"Oh really? I didn't notice. Let's just hurry up and get out of this house."

"Scared?"

Chase ignored Foreman and instead commented on the stench of the basement. "What is that smell? It's vile."

"Smells like something's dying."

"Yeah, or is already dead and decaying." Said Chase as he looked on all the dusty grimy shelves. "Well if he spends any time down here, I'd be surprised he's not dead. Oh sweet God!" Chase said and turned quickly away from the closet that he opened. "Foreman, come here!"

Foreman came over and looked in the closet that Chase had already entered after turning on the light. "Is the father a butcher or something? That's a lot of meat. What kind of animal is that? It doesn't look like pork or beef or any kind of normal meat. It kinda looks like a goat and some type of… monkey."

"I don't know what it is, but let's bring a few samples back and analyze them. Now let's get out of here."

So Foreman and Chase left the house a little creeped out. "Foreman?" Chase asked after a long silence. He had an odd sound of both fear and confusion in him.

"Yeah?"

Chase didn't answer or continue whatever he was saying he just stared at the samples that he still held in his hands. When they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Foreman was still waiting for Chase to say whatever he was going to.

"Chase? Are you okay?" Chase was completely silent, his eyes off in a different world. "Chase? Answer me." Said Foreman, grabbing Chase by the shoulders and making him look him in the eyes. They were in the lobby of the hospital and they had suddenly made a scene.

Chase's far off stare was broken when his body was violently shaken by his coworker. "What?"

Foreman just looked at him. "You were…" He paused. It was like time had stopped in Chase's world and he didn't even know it. "What were you gonna say?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Chase walked away toward the elevators. "Hurry up Foreman. We've been gone pretty long. I don't want House to be mad at us."

Foreman stood blankly for a moment at the oddity of what had just happened but decided to just ignore it and follow Chase to the elevator with the samples in his hands.

"I'm just gonna stop at the bathroom Foreman, I'll be right there." Said Chase leaving Foreman alone.

As he walked down the hallway, Foreman ran into Jordan's parents. "Oh hello." He greeted them. "How are you both doing?"

"What do you have there?" Asked Jordan's father setting hands on the box that held the samples. He looked inside as Foreman pulled it away.

"I'm sorry this is confidential. I'm not allowed to show you—"

"That's from my house isn't it? Isn't it?" He asked aggressively before tearing the box from Foreman's hands. The doctor yelled for help but before he knew it the guy was bolting down the hallway and he tried to run but was stopped by a gurney being pushed out into the hallway.

"What are you waiting for? Get security to stop him!" Foreman yelled to anyone who would listen to him. Somehow the man got away and left his wife who stood blankly, uncertain of what had happened. Foreman questioned her about it, but she held a straight and unaware face. He was certain that she knew what had happened but she had a good poker face. And for that moment, they couldn't do anything more.

- - - - -  
- - - - -

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the entire staircase

- Martin Luther King jr.


	3. Like an Apple

**Eating Habits**

**Summary:** Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen's disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents' odd diet result in his death?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own House M.D. and take no claim to it whatsoever.

- - - - -  
**III  
Like an Apple  
****- - - - -**

**When Foreman and Chase joined** Cameron and House in the board room, House was unpleased to see them empty-handed. "You didn't find anything?" He asked with his arms crossed over his chest. "You just wasted two hours and came back with nothing?"

"The kid's dad stole our samples that we got from the house and ran off. _Security _didn't catch him." Foreman said with thorough anger towards the hospital's security. "I am just as angry as you are."

Chase gave a light chuckle. "Doubt it Foreman." He said looking at Foreman who gave a little grin.

House groaned and sighed. "Well what did you find? And why are you laughing?" He asked Chase.

"Ignore him. He's being weird." Said Foreman catching House's curiosity. "Come on House, Chase will be around here for a while our patient might not be."

"Oh but Chase is so much cuter. What did you guys find?"

Foreman started to explain the odd contents of their fridge. There were no dairy products, no fruit or vegetable and only a bit of grain products. There was mostly meat and random frozen meals.

"Carnivores." House noted then directed his attention to Chase who then told about the basement.

"It was grungy and wet down there. Probably hundreds of toxins down there. If Jordan spent any time at all in the basement it would be impossible to know what he had."

"What else? What else?"

Chase looked at Foreman. "There was something like a closet or a pantry. It was freezing cold. The closet looked like a butcher's workshop. All sorts of meat hanging and oh it was awful."

"I don't care if it was _awful, _Chase. Did you get samples of the meat?"

Both shook their heads and told him that the samples they had gotten were those stolen by Jordan's father. House sighed with frustration and threw his marker on the table, telling his doctors to throw out some ideas.

House had listed symptoms on the board:

-respiratory problems

-coughing

-rashes on hands and around mouth

-Inflammation-throat

-blurred vision

"And paranoia."

"That many new things since we left?"

"I told you it was serious. Give me some ideas." They all named off some ideas and in the end went off to perform several tests. "And Chase talk to the kid then go back to the house."

"Again? I am not going back there. At least not alone." He looked at Foreman.

"No way. I'm not going back there. Take Cameron."

From the doorway, Cameron looked back. "Take me where?"

House smirked. "To pleasure town. Cameron, run a few tests while Chase talks to the kid and his folks and then you're going with him back to the house. Try to keep your hands off." He said and winked. Cameron reluctantly agreed.

- - - - -

"So Jordan, do you play a lot of sports?" Chase asked. He did, in fact he played just about every sport in the book. "Have you ever done drugs Jordan? Tobacco? Marijuana?"

"Never. And I won't ever. It would be bad for my sports. I already have asthma so I don't want to add to that, you know?" Chase nodded and asked Jordan about his eating habits at home. "Well, we eat a lot of meat. At school though I eat the apples or random fruit that my buddy's parents make them bring. My mom doesn't buy much fruit, but I really like it. We always have a lot of bread around the house but we mostly eat meat."

Jordan was very calm while Chase asked him questions, but when Chase told him that he needed to draw some blood, Jordan became anxious and scared. His eyes were wide with fear and his hands were trembling as his face became flushed. His eyes were quickly blood shot and the heart monitor showed that his blood pressure was rising.

"Jordan I need you to calm down. Jordan, sit back and relax. Jordan! I need you to relax!" Chase said, trying to push Jordan back down on the bed. Jordan remained stiff. "Jordan! Relax! Jordan?! Jordan move!" Chase yelled for help as he checked Jordan's eyes.

Letting out a piercing cry Jordan opened his mouth and bit down on Chase's right arm that held the light that shone in his eyes. Chase dropped the light to the ground as he yelled for help. Jordan was having an absent seizure and his jaw had locked.

"Somebody get him off me!!" Chase yelled as Cameron followed by a few nurses rushed into the room. Cameron jumped to Jordan's side and forced his jaw open by pushing his jaw bone forward thus releasing Chase's arm.

Chase pulled back in pure horror and pain. "That child took a _bite _out of me!" He yelled and dropped to his knees by Jordan's bedside trying to keep pressure on his arm as blood gushed, staining his clothes, the bed and the tiled floor.

After coming out of the seizure, Jordan was out like a light. All his vitals back to normal. His light blue gown was stained red with blood, not his own but Chase's.

Cameron paged House. It was the first thing she thought to do. A couple of nurses jumped to Chase's side but were uncertain of what to do. Cameron followed Chase to an empty room. His arm was bleeding uncontrollably, so all they could do was try to stop it. House and Foreman rushed down to Jordan's room but were then waved over to a different room by Cameron.

"What happened?" Foreman asked as they looked in on an agonized and pained Chase who fought desperately to hold back screams and tears as the nurses attempted to try to stitch it up and cover it. "Whoa." He said seeing all the blood everywhere.

"I only caught the end of whatever happened." Said Cameron. "All I caught was blood everywhere and Chase falling to his knees beside Jordan's bed and screaming: that child took a bite out of me. I'm not really sure what it was but it's intense."

House looked in on Chase as well. "The kid took a bite out of him? Like a piece of meat?" He paused and whispered. "Meat."

Foreman and Cameron just looked at House and they waited a while for Chase to come out of the room. Chase came out with his arm in a sling and an evil glare in his pink eyes. "Chase, are you okay?" Cameron asked, softly placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn't answer and irritatedly shrugged her off.

Cameron looked at House as they all mechanically went back to the board room but just stood in the hallway silently. All four of them exchanged looks for a few minutes before Cuddy and Wilson came down the hallway laughing.

"Why are you all standing in the hallway?" Asked Cuddy, looking at House for an answer. No one spoke. "Chase what happened?"

Chase just glared at her. She turned to the other doctors concerned, looking for an answer. "Our patient bit him." Said House.

Wilson raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "He _bit_ him? How hard?" He asked directly to Chase.

"The kid took a bite out of me. Like I'm an apple or a… piece of steak or something." He said angrily. "He started having an absent seizure and he had gotten hold of my arm just in time to lock his jaw." He shook his head and sighed heavily. "And you should have seen the look on his face. It was as if he, liked it. That bloody child's a cannibal! Wait a sec." Chase thought back to the house. The closet. The unidentifiable meat. It all made disgusting sense. "What does the father do for a living?"

- - - - -  
- - - - -

A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle

- Proverb

p.s. please review for me :)


	4. Breaking In

**Eating Habits**

_**Summary:**_ Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen's disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents' odd diet result in _his_ death?

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own House M.D. and take no claim to it whatsoever.

- - - - -  
**IV  
Breaking In  
****- - - - -**

**The other doctors shrugged**. "I'm going to find that out and then I'm going back to their house."

"Chase, you're not going back to that house. I'm not allowing you."

"I'm going. Who's coming with me?" In unison, Foreman and Cameron said they would go. House didn't even have time to get a comment in before they were all off.

"Chase what are you thinking?"

"That I want to kill that kid." He looked at Foreman. He would have laughed at the look on his face were it not for such an abominable pain in his arm.

When Jordan's mother was in view, Chase called her name and began questioning her. "Where does your husband work? We found a lot of _meat_ in your basement. Is he a butcher?" She was silent. "If you are not honest with me, your son will _die._ I need you to be honest and you have to speak to me." He said very aggressively.

The woman looked genuinely fearful. "What happened to your arm?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Stop changing the subject! If you don't want your son to die then answer my questions. If you don't care at all, then just leave!"

With fearful eyes, the woman turned and began to walk away.

"Are you kidding me!? You don't care if Jordan dies!? What kind of mother are you?!" He yelled before receiving a sharp slap in the face.

"You _doctor_ don't dare tell me how I feel! I care very much about my son, but—"

"But what? If he dies you'll feel just the same? Look you stupid woman, tell me! Where does your husband work?"

With steam practically blowing out her ears, she gave in and said through clenched teeth "He works at the morgue, he does the embalming there. Happy?"

"Not yet. Do you work?" She didn't. "So you stay at home, do you make the meals? What would be a typical meal at your house?"

The woman looked very ill at ease and awkward. "Well, we, uh, we eat a lot of meat. Jordan doesn't really like fruits and vegetables and, um, his father and him are both extremely lactose intolerant and, uh, well, we, just really like meat."

Chase was becoming suspicious. "You're lying to me. What kind of meat do you eat?"

"Well, um, I try to vary it up a bit, mostly pork and beef but I like to throw in some bird or more exotic type of meat."

"That's good enough for now." Said Chase and signed for Cameron and Foreman to come with him.

"Wait, Doctor Chase! What happened to your arm?"

Chase paused and looked her straight in the eyes. "Your son, bit me and liked it. He's a cannibal." At the last word, the woman's eyes widened like golf balls. "Come on, let's go." He said and the two doctors followed him. "Foreman, are you driving?"

"Sure." He said as they ran to his car and jumped in before speeding off.

"What do we do if he's still there?" Asked Cameron looking back at Chase from the passenger seat. Chase shrugged his shoulders and winced at the pain in his arm. In his short moment of fury, he had completely forgotten about the pain, but then it was back.

"According to the woman, her husband should be at work right now. We look around the house in the windows and if we think anyone's home then we'll sneak in somehow. I'm not sure how, but we'll figure something out."

Cameron made the same sort of comment that Chase had about the condition of the house. There was no car in the driveway but they peeked in all the windows anyway. "Chase is that him?" Asked Cameron. Chase came over.

"It could be but he's not moving. It looks almost like a dummy. Foreman did you notice a dummy in a chair earlier?" Foreman shook his head no. "Let's not take the risk." Chase said before telling the others to search for a window that might lead to the basement.

"Chase, there's no windows leading to the basement but there are the bedroom windows and a few that lead into the kitchen and the bathroom." Cameron reported.

Chase stopped and thought a moment. "We could try to get in through the kitchen or through the bedroom window. The stairs to the bedroom are right off the kitchen. Same with the basement. The only thing about the basement is that the window leads right unto the counter and the sink. And when we were here earlier, the sink was stacked full of dirty dishes."

"Then the bedroom it is. Who's going and how are they getting up there? Cameron's the lightest." Foreman suggested uncertainly.

"I don't want her going in there alone if that man is home." Said Chase protectively.

"Well Chase you can't go, you wouldn't be able to climb up. I guess that leaves you." Cameron said, addressing Foreman.

Foreman was slightly fearful. He wasn't a good climber and doubted his abilities of being able to climb the side of a house. Seeing Foreman's uncertainty, Chase felt torn. He could very well climb up the house. He had had his share of monkey moments as a kid. The only thing was his arm. That dumb child was preventing Chase from saving his life.

"I have an idea." Said Cameron. "I can climb up there and make a rope or something to help you two up. Sound good?" Chase and Foreman agreed then they boosted Cameron up. It was a few minutes before Cameron sent down a rope ladder. She had found in Jordan's room a rope ladder in case of a fire.

Chase went up first with Foreman to back him up. When they were all in the room, Cameron folded up the ladder and put it back where she found it. "Okay, so how are we gonna do this?" Foreman asked Chase who seemed to be in charge of the entire thing.

Chase pondered a moment. "Well we've gotta get to the basement. So we'll go down the stairs, I'll sneak a peek around the corner and see if that's a real man or a dummy. Then we'll go to the basement. Sound good?"

Cameron and Foreman agreed and they all quietly snuck down the stairs. They felt like they were in a spy movie or a mystery TV show, where they had to sneak around the house to catch a killer. In a way, that was what they were doing. When they got to the kitchen, Chase told them to stay there as quiet and still as a statue while he snuck a look around the corner. Not being able to see the chair, he crawled on the ground to get a better look. He was relieved to see that it was just a dummy. He went back to the kitchen less fearful and told Cameron and Foreman that it was just a dummy.

They were still careful and quiet going down the stairs but were less stressed. "It stinks down here." Said Cameron. "How could they do anything down here? Do they do their laundry down here?" She moaned at the stench as Chase and Foreman went over to the door.

"You think that's gross? Get a sniff of this room." Chase said with a bit of laugh as Cameron stood by his side. As he turned the knob he found the door locked.

"You've gotta be kidding. It can't be locked. We need to get in there. I'll kick it down." Foreman said and instructed Chase and Cameron to move out of the way. With one big kick, Foreman knocked the door open. It hadn't actually been locked, it just shut very stiffly.

When they door was opened, Cameron, Foreman and Chase stood blankly at the horrifying sight before them.

- - - - -  
- - - - -

It doesn't matter what happens _to_ you but what happens _inside _of you because what happens inside of you determines what happens _through _you!

- Margaret Gibb


	5. Problem Solved

- - - - -

**Eating Habits**

_**Summary:**_ Some teens have problems with bulimia, some with anorexia. This teen's disturbing eating problem is forced upon him by his parents. Will his parents' odd diet result in _his_ death?

_**Disclaimer:**_I do not own House M.D. and take no claim to it whatsoever.

**_A/N:_** for the record, I'm regularly not this twisted and.. odd. / ha. ha.

- - - - -  
**V  
Problem Solved **  
- - - - -

**Mark, holding a large **knife looked at them fiercely. He was wearing a white butcher's apron with torn jeans and a ratty black wife beater. "What do you want?"

"We just want to talk Mr. Cook. That's all. I just have a few questions." Chase said speaking calmly even though his heart was beating like a hummingbird's and his knees were shaking at the sight of the shiny blade in the man's bloody hand.

Mark looked at Chase and eyed him up and down. "I prefer Mark please. What's wrong with your arm doc?"

Chase shook his head, how to say it without angering the man with the knife? "I was trying to draw blood from your son to do a test and he got scared and went to bite me or something then started seizing and his jaw locked. He ended up completely biting a chunk out of my arm."

Mark laughed a deep frightening chuckle. "Just like his old man."

"What do you mean Mr. Cook?"

"He's got the same appetite as me, he just loves home cooking. Can't stand the hospital food, needed some real meat."

"Do you mean t-to say that you eat human meat?" Chase asked horrified. Mark took a bite from one of the slabs of meat on the table and smiled a disgusting bloody smile before spewing it at Chase's newly clean shirt. "That is disgusting!" He yelled jumping back and into another hanging piece of meat and Mark just laughed.

Around the corner, Foreman opened his phone to call the police on this crazy man but hearing the phone dialing Mark became suspicious. "What is that? Who's that son of a b think he's calling?"

"It sounds like he's talking to his wife. I think I heard his piano ring tone, that's the one he has specifically for her."

Mark's eyes bolted back and forth in fear. "No he's not. You're lying. He's calling the cops on me. I know it."

"You call the cops and I shoot the girl." Mark said grabbing Cameron and putting her in a headlock with a gun to her head. "What's your choice?" He said to Foreman who turned the corner with a scared blank look in his face. "Put the phone on the table."

Foreman did as he was told and Chase as well put his phone on the table. Mark ran his hand up Cameron's side and Chase lost it. Chase ripped Cameron from Mark's grip and Mark shot his gun in whatever direction he could. Cameron let out a scream and Chase knocked the gun out of Mark's hand before punching him in the face. The two men began to go at it buying Cameron and Foreman time to call the police as well as an ambulance.

When the police got there they took Mark into custody and the paramedics then took the three bloody doctors to their hospital. The police came to talk to the three of them and also ended up arresting Jordan's mother.

Upon arriving at the ER, House, Wilson and Cuddy met them there. "What happened?" House asked Foreman who stopped to talk to him.

"The family is cannibal. The dad works at a morgue and steals the dead bodies to _eat_. Chase was right about the formaldehyde. They use it to keep the bodies good. Jordan should be alright. Physically anyway. He might need some counseling but that's not our problem."

"And what happened to Cameron?"

"The guy's a madman, I was gonna call the cops and he pulled out a gun from no where threatening to shoot her." Foreman said and House's eyes widened, fearful of losing her. "Chase ripped her out of his arms and the guy just shot wherever. He got her in the shoulder but nothing too serious. She'll be fine... Aren't you gonna ask about Chase?"

"I don't care what happened to Chase." House said coldly. Both Wilson and Cuddy turned their heads, shocked at House's harsh bluntness. Foreman could see the hurt in House's eyes and felt bad for him as he limped away saying he'd 'fix' the kid before the cops went to talk to him.

"What was that about?" Wilson asked as he followed House down the hallway and into the elevator. "What's going on? Why do you not care about what happens to Chase?"

"Chase is having sex with Stacy."

"Stacy? Your ex, Stacy?" Wilson asked. House was silent. "I can't believe it. But she's married."

House threw his head back, exasperated. He didn't want to talk about Chase, Stacy or anything to do with his life. "Yeah and she's cheating on him with Chase. Who cares?"

"You care."

"Yeah! I care! I still love her! Leave me alone!" He said before going to see Jordan to tell him what was wrong and give him the medication. He briefed Jordan on what had happened and that the police would be up there to talk to him soon.

"Will you stay with me for a little bit?" Jordan asked House who rolled his eyes and decided to stay. "What were you yelling about outside in the hallway?"

"Grown up stuff. You wouldn't understand."

"You said you still loved her. Was she taken away from you?" House remained silent at Jordan's inquiry. "It'll work out if it's meant to be. Does she love you?"

"She's married to another man and she's having an affair with one of my workers."

Jordan nodded giving his share of wisdom to House who then said he had to leave. "I'm sorry I bit the blonde guy. Say sorry to him for me would you please? And thanks for healing me."

"No problem. Just change your diet Jordan." House said and Jordan laughed. House scruffled Jordan's hair with a half smile before leaving the room. Seeing Wilson watching him from the other side of the wide hallway, House chuckled lightly.

As House sat in his office trying to balance a ball on his cane, Cameron was wheeled into a room with Foreman waiting for her. Chase was outside, waiting for Stacy. From inside Cameron's room, Foreman watched Chase regretfully tell Stacy that they had to cut it off. She was going to say the same thing to him. They hugged and separated, planning never to spend time together.

Jordan talked to the police and decided that he would go to live with his aunt and uncle who were sane vegetable and fruit, milk and cheese, chicken eaters.

"Cameron," said Chase as he entered her room and Foreman left with a grin and a wink. "I just—wanted to tell you that, I, love you."

Cameron smiled sleepily and wrapped her hands around Chase's. "Stay with me a bit."

- - - - -  
**The End  
**- - - - -

You never lose by loving; you only lose by holding back.

- Anonymous


End file.
